11:11 Waves Blog 1: Meditation

Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.

Today’s topic is: Meditation.

Over the last few days, I was inspired by many friends and colleagues’ new year resolutions. These resolutions are usually packed with actions, long “to do” lists and refined SMART goals.

While thinking about my new year resolutions, I was reminded about the quote from Alan Watts: “To really do nothing, with perfection, is as difficult as doing everything” and how, when planning for the future, we often do not include non-action, which can be as powerful (if not more so) than action and so important to maintain balance, wellbeing and flow in our lives.

One Question for you

What you are not doing matters:

Discuss the question here.

One Idea from me

Meditation is a great form of non-action.

I started meditating seven years ago and, as my practice evolved, I learned that meditation is the place where you are not doing anything, but where everything is happening.

If you are interested in starting this practice, but don’t know how to go about it, I encourage you to explore the four concepts below:

Mediation with your eyes open – Select an object (could be your cup of tea, a plant, a candle flame, a powerful word written on a piece of paper etc.) and focus your gaze on that object in front of you. Keep your eyes open in a soft gaze and intentionally notice everything about that object (the colours, the texture, the smell, each sensation that it evokes) and your experience observing it. Imagine that you came to earth specifically to focus on that object. Try to do this for two minutes and slowly increase the time. Because your eyes are open, you can literally do this meditation anywhere at anytime (for example while you are on the bus, in the office between meetings or during a walk).

Meditation with your eyes closed – An easy technique is to close your eyes, concentrate on your breathing and imagine yourself going to the “void”. Bruce Lee referred to the “void” as the place of nothingness. Personally, I imagine the “void” as a dark place where I cannot see anything and can only hear the sound of whales (please note that your “void” may look and feel totally different). Once you are in the “void”, just turn your attention to your breath as it comes in, follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs and repeat. Do this for two minutes and then return to your present state.

Come back when wandering off – Naturally, your mind will start wandering off (for example I can find myself thinking about my next meeting or what to cook for dinner). Your goal is not to battle with your mind, but to witness your mind. If you are wandering off, simply acknowledge your thought, visualize it and imagine you let it go and return to yourself.

One step at the time – To start with, you can meditate for two minutes a day for a week. This may sound very easy and that’s great! If you increase it by another two minutes the following week, in the second month, you will be able to meditate 10 minutes a day!

One Quote from others

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few”. Shunryu Suzuki

One Inspiration for us

Enjoy this two-minute song from Yi Nantiro Immovable as a Mountain. You can even meditate to it 😊